The Knight That Went for the Rook

The game, move by move

The Salvio Gambit

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. f4 The King’s Gambit A pawn offered for the f-file, which is how the game was played for two hundred years before anybody thought to decline it.
4. 2… exf4 Accepted
5. 3. Nf3 The knight out, at the pawn
6. 3… g5 g5 — holding it Black props the extra pawn up with another one, and in doing so opens the diagonal his own king is standing on.
7. 4. Bc4 The bishop looks at f7
8. 4… g4 g4, kicking the knight The second pawn advance, and now the knight has to choose between retreating and going forward into the position.
9. 5. Ne5 Forward — the Salvio Ne5 rather than a retreat. White accepts a check on h4 and the loss of castling for a knight sitting in the middle of Black’s half.
10. 5… Qh4+ Check, at once
11. 6. Kf1 The king steps aside Nothing can be interposed and there is nothing to castle with any more. Every white piece from here has to work around a king on f1.
12. 6… f3 f3 — a pawn wedged in It cannot be taken by the g-pawn and it will not move again for eight moves. At the end it is the pawn that opens g2.

A knight sent to the corner

1. 7. Nxf7 The knight takes f7 A pawn and a fork of the queen and the rook. In 1836 this is simply a good move.
2. 7… Nc6 Developing instead Black lets the rook go and brings a piece out. There are four black pieces about to arrive on the kingside and White is about to have none there.
3. 8. d4 d4, taking the centre
4. 8… Bg7 The bishop to g7
5. 9. c3 c3, propping up d4
6. 9… Nf6 The knight out
7. 10. Nxh8 The rook, taken The knight reaches h8, and that is the last useful thing it does. It never comes out.
8. 10… d5 d5, opening the file

The pawns arrive first

1. 11. exd5 Taken
2. 11… Ne4 The knight to e4 Onto the square in front of the wedged pawn, and pointing at f2 and g3.
3. 12. Qe1 The queen to e1, defending
4. 12… g3 g3 — the second pawn arrives Two black pawns on f3 and g3 against a king on f1. Neither of them can be taken.
5. 13. Bd3 The bishop to d3
6. 13… fxg2+ The pawn takes g2, with check The wedge cashes itself in. Whatever White does now, the g-file is open onto his king.
7. 14. Kxg2 The king takes it back
8. 14… Bh3+ Check from h3 The bishop comes to the square the pawn opened. It is never taken and it is the piece that covers f1 and g2 at the end.

Mated on g1

1. 15. Kg1 Back to g1
2. 15… Nxd4 The knight takes d4 A pawn, and a knight aimed at e2 and f3. Black is not counting material and has not been all game.
3. 16. Qxe4+ Check, trading queens
4. 16… Qxe4 The queens come off Which changes nothing: there are still a knight, a bishop and a pawn on g3 around a king with one square.
5. 17. Bxe4 The bishop takes back
6. 17… Ne2# Checkmate, on e2 The knight steps to e2 beside the king. h1 is White’s own rook and h2 his own pawn; f1 and g2 are held by the bishop that has stood on h3 since move fourteen; and f2 is covered by the black pawn on g3. The knight on h8 is four squares from the nearest piece it could have defended.